The fight against the Keystone XL Pipeline is heating up, with many positive and important developments occuring this past week, excluding the disgraceful, though unsurprising decision[3] by the Obama for President 2012 campaign team to bring a former TransCanada lobbyist, Broderick Johnson (husband[4] of NPR's Michele Norris), onto its upper-level staff.

A meeting[8] between leaders of the youth climate movement and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson on the pipeline.

A recent massive anti-pipeline action that took place in San Francisco, in which 1,000 protesters greeted Obama[9] at one of his fundraising events for his 2012 presidential run.

An announced push-back[10] of the Keystone XL pipeline final decision date by the State Department.

An acknowledgement, at last, by President Barack Obama that he is taking into consideration[11] the concerns voiced by citizens nationwide about the potential risks to public health, water supplies and the global climate if he approves the Keystone XL pipeline.

Given the significant economic, environmental, and public health implications of the proposed pipeline, we believe that it is critical that the State Department conduct thorough, unbiased reviews of the project. Further, it is imperative that the State Department process be free of actual or apparent conflicts of interest…

(snip)

…[G]iven the importance of this project and the process regarding the State Department's review process to-date, a thorough investigation covering…any possible violations of federal law or improper conduct related to the State Department…a [probe is warranted]…for the Keystone XL

While only 14 out of 435, it shows that the issue is, at minimum, high on the radar of some politicians inside the Beltway[13] and the voices of grassroots leaders are finally being heard, at least by some.

Nebraska Special Session

Nebraska has, in many ways, been ground zero[14] in the fight against the pipeline, led in the forefront by Jane Kleeb[15]'s grassroots activist group, Bold Nebraska[16].

Public opposition to the pipeline got the attention of the governor of a Republican Party generally uninclined[17] to accept scientific reality.

Having already urged President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to deny the permit on a seperate occasion[18] at the end of August, Heineman, hearing only the sound of silence from what DeSmogBlog has called “State Department Oil Services[19],” Heineman called for a special sesssion[6] regarding the pipeline.

“The purpose of the Special Session will be to find a legal and constitutional solution to the siting of oil pipelines within the state,” according to a press release issued by Heineman.

Of chief concern, the current pipeline route runs directly over the Nebraska Sand Hills[20] and the Ogallala Aquifer[21], both of which are vital pieces of the Nebraska economy.

Youth Climate Movement Meeting

Representatives of the youth climate movement met[8] with EPA head Lisa Jackson - including former Obama volunteers, as well as the Energy Action Coalition[22], a coalition of 50 youth-led environmental and social justice groups working together to build the youth clean energy and climate movement. Keystone XL[23] was among the topics of the meeting.

Activists' Push Against Pipeline Drawing Attention

The day after a protest in San Francisco, which drew a crowd of 1,000 anti-pipeline protesters to greet him, President Obama was again greeted by more protesters in Denver who interrupted his campaign stump speech.

The decision process has been bottlenecked and pushed back[10] by the State Department, which likely thought at first that, likely nearly all other ecologically destructive decisions it makes, it would be rubber-stamped.

Not the case this time around, though.

Upcoming next steps

This all comes ahead of a big November 6 action[24] organized by the leaders of the Tar Sands Action movement[25], in a call to circle around the White House to demand that President Barack Obama reject the Keystone XL Pipeline.

As the late historian Howard Zinn once proclaimed[26], “What matters is not who's sitting in the White House, but who's SITTINGIN the White House – and who is marching outside the White House, pushing for change.”